washingtontimes.com

     QUITO, Ecuador, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Brazil's president Wednesday called for a diplomatic solution to the general strike crippling neighboring Venezuela, which has endured more than a month of unrest.

     While attending the inauguration of Ecuador's new President Lucio Gutierrez in the capital, Quito, Brazil's own newly anointed leader, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, stressed Venezuela's importance to the continent's largest country and economy.

     "We want Venezuela to find its way in the most tranquil and peaceful manner possible," said Lula. "What we really want is to help Venezuela find a way peacefully and for the Venezuelan people to be happy."

     While finding a peaceful end to the now 45-day strike may be a tall order, the Brazilian leader went to Quito on Wednesday with an agenda that included a brainstorming session with other Latin American leaders about how to end the strike.

     Lula brought with him the idea of creating a regional, multi-national "Friends of Venezuela Group" -- Grupo de Paises Amigos da Venezuela -- to help bring a peaceful end to the strike, as well as daily protests and clashes between supporters and detractors of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

     A leftist with an inclination toward social reform, Lula has strong ties to Chavez, also from the left. Opponents of the Venezuelan president allege he has taken the nation too far to the left at the expense of the economy.

     Chavez -- who also attended the inauguration -- heaped praise on Lula for calling the meeting of president to help thrash out a solution to the strike.

     "It is extraordinary, because Lula and Brazil should assume, as they are already doing, the role of protagonists in leading the new South America," Chavez asserted.

     Not all Venezuelans shared their president's enthusiasm for Brazilian intervention in ending the strike. Protestors Tuesday gathered outside the Brazilian Embassy in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, chanting and waving signs denouncing Brazil's intended role in their country's affairs.

     "We like samba -- we don't like intromission," read one sign, referring to the popular Brazilian dance.

     The Lula-led meeting of regional leaders has also drawn the ire of Washington, who had hoped to form its own "Friends of Venezuela" group to end strike that has severely handicapped Venezuela's oil production capabilities.

     A Washington Post article last week noted that the President Bush's administration was hoping to head off the left-leaning Lula government's initiative, adding that U.S. and foreign diplomatic sources were concerned that the effort would ultimately be counterproductive.

     The U.S.-led effort would include Brazil, as well as the United States, Mexico, Chile and possibly Spain, and a representative of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, according to the Post.

     U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher recently explained the Bush administration's position on regional intervention in Venezuela, simply stating, "We don't think there needs to be some separate group of friends formed."

     Lula has maintained a non-adversarial, diplomatic position on the U.S. stance while moving ahead with the proposed meeting. His presidential spokesman, Andre Singer, said Tuesday that the Friends of Venezuela Group "would be to support the negotiation effort by Organization of American States Secretary-General Cesar Gaviria, to resolve the crisis in that country."

     Gaviria had been mediating talks between the government and opposition leaders in recent weeks with little success. The effort is currently at a standstill due to a disagreement regarding the possible ouster of Chavez. The OAS secretary-general also attended Wednesday's meeting of regional leaders.

     Singer said that Brazil's new Foreign Relations Minister Celso Amorim had spoken to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell about the upcoming meeting, though he didn't expand on the specifics of the leaders' discussion.

     "There is a convergence of opinion concerning the need to overcome the crisis in Venezuela," he said somewhat elusively.

     The Bush administration initially appeared apprehensive about interfering in the Venezuela crisis. Last spring, Washington came out in support of Chavez's ouster, only to have the Venezuelan president return to power a few days later.

     But now it appears the U.S. president is becomingly increasingly interested in ending a strike that has denied the United States the more than 1 million barrels of oil a day it was receiving from Venezuela.

     -0-      (Reported by Carmen Gentile, UPI Latin America correspondent,

www.voanews.com VOA News 16 Jan 2003, 00:18 UTC

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez meets Thursday in New York with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan as six countries launch a joint effort to help end Venezuela's political crisis and crippling general strike.

Secretary-General Annan says he hopes all parties in Venezuela will use democratic and constitutional means to resolve their differences.

Meanwhile, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and the United States have officially launched what they call the "Friends of Venezuela" group. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva proposed the group. It will complement efforts by the Organization of American States to help Venezuela solve its problems.

President Chavez opposes U.S. participation in the Friends group unless President Bush personally takes part in its meetings.

A State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, said Wednesday the United States has been and will continue to be very active with both the government and the opposition in seeking a political solution in Venezuela.

Venezuela is in the seventh week of a general strike that has shut down oil production, sending world oil prices climbing.

Opposition leaders have demanded that leftist President Chavez resign, saying his economic policies are destroying the country. Both sides are waiting for Venezuela's Supreme Court to decide the legality of a proposed February second referendum on whether Mr. Chavez should resign.

The government calls the referendum unconstitutional. The opposition hopes it could lead to early elections. Some observers say despite Mr. Chavez's widespread unpopularity, he would likely win re-election.

Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters.

english.eastday.com

Venezuela's vice president said the government would respect the high court if it rules to allow a February 2 referendum on President Hugo Chavez's rule.

However, Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel warned that such a ruling would create chaos in this country of 24 million coping with a general strike called by opponents to overthrow Chavez.

"If the Supreme Tribunal confirms the referendum is constitutional we will accept it," said Rangel. The govern-ment, he added, complied with a ruling exonerating the leaders of an April 11 coup against Chavez.

Anger is growing on both sides as the strike drags into its sixth week. It has hurt oil production in the world's fifth-largest exporter and depleted store shelves.

Chavez's opponents call him authoritarian and unfit to govern, while supporters of the leftist former paratrooper accuse strikers of trying to force a coup.

On tuesday, an airliner headed to the Dominican Republic was forced to return to Caracas when passengers staged an on-board protest targeting an ally of Chavez.

They shook fold-out trays and shouted to protest the presence of retired General Belisario Landis, Venezuela's ambassador in Santo Domingo, shortly after the Aeropostal-Alas de Venezuela flight left the ground. The pilots returned to Caracas, and everyone on board was evacuated.

The boeing 727 took off again an hour later, after passengers promised not to disrupt the flight again.

Another incident occurred inside the airport on Tuesday when an unidentified man threw a tear-gas grenade at a group that was shouting "Assassins! Assassins!" at pro-Chavez lawmakers.

After a few minutes of confusion, the airport continued functioning normally.

On november 6, opposition groups presented election authorities with the 2 million signatures required to convoke the nonbinding referendum on Chavez's rule.

Under venezuelan law, citizens can convoke a referendum by gathering signatures from at least 10 percent of the nation's 12 million registered voters.

If high court magistrates declare the referendum legal, Rangel said, the government will urge the president's supporters to abstain from casting ballots.

Allies and adversaries of Chavez have presented the Supreme Tribunal with 14 cases for and against the plebiscite.

www.japantoday.com Thursday, January 16, 2003 at 09:30 JST

CARACAS — The holding early next month of a non-binding referendum on President Hugo Chavez's rule appeared increasingly in doubt Wednesday as Venezuelans looked abroad for help in resolving their months-long political and economic crisis.

The autonomous National Electoral Council (CNE) said it lacked the funds needed to hold the referendum, which is slated for Feb 2.

The administration, meanwhile, has said it will not provide the money until the Supreme Court rules on the legality of the plebiscite, which the opposition succeeding in getting scheduled by delivering to the CNE a petition with more than 2 million signatures.

CNE Vice President Jose Manuel Zerpa reiterated that, with its refusal to provide funds, "the administration is blocking the consultative referendum and infringing on the rights of voters." Meanwhile, ruling-party lawmaker Iris Varela cited what she said was the "technical inability" of the CNE to organize and hold a "transparent and impartial" referendum on the date scheduled.

In addition to the future of the non-binding referendum, Venezuelans are also awaiting the possible emergence of a "Friends of Venezuela" group that could help find a solution to the debilitating crisis.

Lawmakers from Chavez's 5th Republic Movement (MVR) have vetoed the United States as a possible member of the projected group, saying Washington's coolness toward the leftist-populist Chavez rules it out. Representatives of the opposition Democratic Coordinator oppose the inclusion of Brazil and Colombia, which they claim support the beleaguered president.

The two sides agree, however, that foreign cooperation could help jumpstart the negotiations moderated by Organization of American States (OAS) chief Cesar Gaviria to find "an electoral, constitutional, democratic and peaceful" solution to the Venezuelan crisis.

OAS-sponsored talks, which adjourned Monday and are scheduled to resume on Thursday, began on Nov 8 but have yet to produce results.

Both sides also concur on the need to resolve the crisis as soon as possible in view of the serious damage being sustained by the economy due to the open-ended general strike called by the opposition to try to force Chavez to step down or call immediate elections.

While support for the 45-day-old strike has waned among many small business owners, it remains strong in the vital oil industry, which accounts for 80% of Venezuela's exports and half of all government revenue. (EFE News Service)

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seattlepi.nwsource.com Wednesday, January 15, 2003 · Last updated 4:13 p.m. PT By ORLANDO CUALES ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

WILLEMSTAD, Curacao -- Curacao's oil refinery, one of the world's largest, will restart its main plant this weekend and gradually resume processing crude, company officials said Wednesday.

Curacao's Refineria Isla, which receives most of its oil from Venezuela, shut down its 37 refining plants last month when Venezuela's general strike halted oil shipments to the Dutch Caribbean island.

The refinery will restart its main plant Saturday and production at other plants through next week, a decision made after Venezuela pledged to resume some oil shipments, general manager Norbert Chaclin said. He offered no further details.

By Jan. 25, the refinery should be processing 150,000 barrels of crude a day to supply gasoline and other petroleum products to markets in the Netherlands Antilles and Venezuela, officials said. At full capacity, the refinery can process up to 335,000 barrels a day.

"We do not foresee the availability of enough crude to start supplying international clients," Chaclin said. "We will monitor and see how the situation develops regarding supply of crude oil."

Oil lubricants production remains on hold, but could resume if international clients show demand, he said.

During the refinery's shutdown, it provided markets in Bonaire and Curacao with gasoline from about two months worth of stocks. The two Dutch islands are located just off the coast of Venezuela.

Curacao's refinery, which employs more than 1,000 full-time workers, is owned by Curacao's government but is operated by Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., Venezuela's state-owned oil company.

Venezuela's opposition leaders called a general strike to press President Hugo Chavez to step down or call a referendum on his rule. The strike, now six weeks old, has prevented many oil tankers in Venezuela from leaving the port.

Once the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, Venezuela has spent $105 million to import more than 2 million barrels of gasoline since a strike began Dec. 2. It's the first time Venezuela has imported gasoline in almost a century.